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Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 11:03 am
by Sir Henry
Does anyone know anything about these. I have an iPhone with AT&T with a tower in direct sight about a mile away. I get four to five bars outside and can barely get one inside the house. I believe it’s the aluminum on the insulation. I have the same trouble with an antenna.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 11:28 am
by dave77
I had one years ago with T-Mobile, set it in a window and it worked OK. T-Mobile provided it to me at no cost.

Can you get phone service over Wi-Fi? I've used it with Verizon and until fairly recently with T-Mobile. They've upgraded the tower I use recently and I can now get a decent cell signal in my house which does have steel or aluminum siding and roof.

If you have Wi-Fi and a fairly recent iphone I'd think it would just be a matter of turning it on in Settings.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 12:04 pm
by daytime dave
Gene, I don't get good cell service at my home. I researched cell phone boosters and found out plenty of information.

First, I don't think they work as they claim. I get more bars if I stand near it. About two more. You can pay thousands or about 150.oo. I decided on the lower end. I don't think there is any difference between the models except price. Mine said "up to 4500 square feet improved coverage" which in actuality is about 45 square feet near the box and room antenna. I had to install an antenna on the roof and run coxial cable along the eaves trough. I broke my leg when the ladder slid out from under me. It's bee about two years and the unit still works well.
I use wifi enhancement for my cell phone, but if I stand near the enhancer, I usually get good coverage. I would buy an inexpensive unit again as I think it's over rated and they all seemed to do about the same. That's been my experiance anyways. Worth 150.oo. Not worth investing thousands.


Edit- Gene, I just checked it twice. I get one bar in the house. I set the phone on the unit and got another bar right away. I did it 5 minutes later and got two bars right away. I need to be within 10 feet of the unit, but it does seem to boost the signal. I paid about $150.oo after looking at all sorts of different units.

I use Verizon wireless. It works best at home and at camp.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 12:46 pm
by Mags
Sir Henry wrote:
Tue Sep 12, 2023 11:03 am
Does anyone know anything about these. I have an iPhone with AT&T with a tower in direct sight about a mile away. I get four to five bars outside and can barely get one inside the house. I believe it’s the aluminum on the insulation. I have the same trouble with an antenna.
Same issue here. No cell service inside because of the old aluminum foil backed insulation in the walls and a metal roof. I have a Verizon LTE Network Extender provided by Verizon at no additional cost. I have no more issues with indoor cell service here.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 1:11 pm
by Sir Henry
I’ll try the AT&T store next time I’m in Wausau.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2023 7:37 pm
by Ernie
T mobile provided me with a free booster because of the poor signal at address. I get 4 bar/ 5G anywhere in my small house. I have to hook it up to the internet and place a receiver in the window.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 8:56 am
by clovishound
+1 for hooking it up to your wifi. It will automatically switch to cell when you leave the house and are out of wifi range. I get OK cell service in the yard, but poor service inside the house, once I connected to wifi, I no longer had issues in the house.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 10:24 am
by Sir Henry
clovishound wrote:
Wed Sep 13, 2023 8:56 am
+1 for hooking it up to your wifi. It will automatically switch to cell when you leave the house and are out of wifi range. I get OK cell service in the yard, but poor service inside the house, once I connected to wifi, I no longer had issues in the house.
My phone is also my Wi-Fi. My phone is a hotspot and I connect my computer through my phone. From what I’m reading the relays work quite well when the outside signa is strong which I have. I get four to five bars outside and currently getting two inside. And it’s 5G.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 5:09 pm
by Mags
clovishound wrote:
Wed Sep 13, 2023 8:56 am
+1 for hooking it up to your wifi. It will automatically switch to cell when you leave the house and are out of wifi range. I get OK cell service in the yard, but poor service inside the house, once I connected to wifi, I no longer had issues in the house.
-1. Might or might not work. When we tried Wifi assisted calling prior to getting the cell extender, we got garbled conversations and dropped calls.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 5:26 pm
by dave77
How fast is your internet? My Wi-Fi calls are good but I have fiber 100Mbps up and down. I could get 1Gbps up and down for $8 more a month but I don't see the need.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 6:13 pm
by RanchRoper
Lose the cell phone....you can get the weather by going outside, and the news depending on if your neighbors are packing or hunkering down.

Guess you might want to talk to somebody now and then but not sure why.... :lol: :lol:

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2023 6:48 pm
by Sir Henry
RanchRoper wrote:
Wed Sep 13, 2023 6:13 pm
Lose the cell phone....you can get the weather by going outside, and the news depending on if your neighbors are packing or hunkering down.

Guess you might want to talk to somebody now and then but not sure why.... :lol: :lol:
Without a cell phone I couldn’t post. Now a TV I can live without.

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:47 pm
by Ernie
No tv at my house

Re: Cell Phone Signal Booster

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2023 9:56 pm
by Sir Henry
Ernie wrote:
Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:47 pm
No tv at my house
I have a TV in my motor home to watch Packer games.